Non-surgical and surgical therapy
Gum disease is treated in stages, and most of it is not surgery. What you need depends on how deep it has gone.
What the treatment is
Scaling and root planing removes plaque and tartar from below the gum line, then smooths the root so it does not gather again as easily. For a great many people this is the whole treatment.
Where infection has gone deeper than cleaning can reach, flap surgery opens the gum enough to clean the root properly and reduce the pocket, so daily brushing and flossing can keep it that way.
Regenerative procedures go further again, rebuilding lost bone and tissue with specialised materials where the support around a tooth has been destroyed.
Who it is for
Anyone with pocketing that will not resolve, gums that bleed on brushing, or bone loss seen on an X-ray.
Which stage applies is what the evaluation establishes. Nobody is booked for surgery before it is known whether cleaning would do.
Treatment does not end when the appointment does — periodontal disease is managed rather than cured, and the maintenance afterwards is what holds the result.
Recovery
After scaling and root planing the gums are usually tender for a short while and teeth can be sensitive. After surgical treatment expect more soreness and some swelling.
You will be given aftercare on the day — how to clean the area while it settles, what to eat, and what to do if something is not improving as it should.
Cost and insurance
Cost depends on how much of the mouth is involved and which stage of treatment is needed. You will have the figure for your own plan before anything is booked.
Periodontal treatment is often covered at least in part; our insurance coordinator works through what your plan allows.
Periodontal disease is managed, not cured. What decides the outcome is what happens after the treatment, not only during it.
Questions we are asked
Open any of them. If yours is not here, the front desk will answer it on the phone.
01Can gum disease be cured?
It is controlled rather than cured. Treatment stops the damage and puts the mouth in a state you can maintain, and regular maintenance visits are what keep it there.
02Will I definitely need surgery?
No. Many people are treated without it. Surgery is for pockets too deep to clean any other way, and whether you are in that position is what the evaluation establishes.
03Is scaling and root planing the same as a cleaning?
No. A routine cleaning works above and just below the gum line; scaling and root planing goes deeper, along the root surface, and is usually done with the area numbed.
04What happens if I leave it?
Periodontal disease is progressive. The support around the teeth continues to be lost, and the options narrow as it goes — which is why it is worth treating at the stage you are at now.
Not sure this is what you need?
Most people are not, on the first call. Book a comprehensive evaluation and we will tell you what we find, and what it would take to put right.